David Brooks is the faux right columnist in the NY Times. Much of the time his columns are weak and seem to be pleas for understanding to the hard left which will never accept any advice from a writer who defends Bush, even weakly. However, today he hit one out of the park. The Democrats have wrecked primary and secondary education with the teachers’ unions leading the way. Undergraduate education in Humanities is pretty much useless as the great western canon of literature and history is submerged in PC baloney. Even so, science and business lead to success for college graduates. We are the most prosperous and free society in the history of the world, but you wouldn’t know it from the New York Times. Bravo for Brooks who got it right this time.
Tags: economics, education, free trade
Lots of people are really missing those ol’ factory, mill, railroad etc jobs that a guy with high school or less could handle, and be taken care of unto death with good health insurance and pensions. That way, even the least ambitious kid in the family could make a living, have a family and buy a house. Teens who found that prospect dreadfully boring would rebel and make their own way. Hell, it was the stuff of novels.
The unmotivated kid who doesn’t want to do much brain work doesn’t have many places to go now. It’s not a good trend considering the deterioration of schools happening at the same time. Ie, yesterday’s “dumb” kids were a lot better educated than today’s.
There is a real problem in some of these manufacturing jobs with the poor math skills that kids come from high school with. Some of these jobs require trigonometry to set up computerized milling machines. There are also very high paying jobs in auto and aircraft maintenance. I know of Mercedes mechanics making $150,000 a year. But they have to be able to go to school and learn the new engines and drive trains. There are still manufacturing jobs but they are in Tennessee and other southern states, not in high tax and union shop Michigan.
Dr.K., I don’t know what to say. I have been teaching at expensive liberal arts colleges for about fifteen years now. These are children of privilege. And yet they come to college without skills, and instead with a vast (and unearned) sense of entitlement.
Because of our “get tenure” and “consumerist” mentality in college, we coddle these young men and women, so they don’t write harsh things in our evaluations, or decide to take their tuition money elsewhere.
Imagine what would happen if, during a group meeting with a boss, people were chatting openly? Or—and I’m not kidding about this—left to go use the restroom?
It can be said that students pay to go to college (actually, their parents do), so the situations are not equivalent. Perhaps. But my guess is that many of these students, once they leave college, end up at 5PM in the parking lot with a cardboard box in their hands. They learn then about the real world….and I deeply worry that we don’t teach them that in college. Or in high school. Or middle school. You get the picture.
Dead on about the mathematics, by the way.
Well, look on the bright side. In Canada, you don’t have to wash your hands in McDonalds.
There was no evidence of:
1. the relationship between food contamination and hand-washing;
2. the risk to the public if Ms. Datt’s hand-washing was limited; and
3. other employees being adversely affected by Ms. Datt’s limitations.
There you have it. Politics triumphs science.
Eric writes:
>>>>…they come to college without skills, and instead with a vast (and unearned) sense of entitlement.
There is plenty of this in the non-college crowd, where the life plan often seems to be a lottery win, an insurance payout, sue somebody, get on disability, inherit money, score an easy public sector job, etc. There seems to be little cache in earning a living through your efforts.
The art of the ‘work ethic’ is fast becoming a lost art precisely because of what doom buggy mentions. I have thre young adults, thankfully they believe in making their own way and are loathe to depend on their parents for anything. Whether they had college degrees or not, I consider that mastery a greater success.
btw, my dad who is 74 is going to back to teaching Molecular Biology at a college. One is still marketable at that age with math/science degrees. English majors, perhaps not so much.
>>>>In Canada, you don’t have to wash your hands in McDonalds.
That story is discomfitting on several levels. If one is truly a useful employee, it seems one could get another job.
Dana, that is fantastic news about your father! I wish I could hear more about that subject—is there any way I can write to you so that I can hear more (perhaps via Vivian Louise)?
I won’t belabor the other nonsense, never fear. Better to move on from that kind of thing. But I would love to hear about your father’s experiences, etc. I might be able to learn from him, as a matter of fact.
I know that I was monomaniacal about teaching my two sons to say “please” and “thank you.” I don’t believe I have heard other children in their age group use manners….
All a parent can do is her or his best, after all. I didn’t mean to imply that acting like a trustifarian was limited to college students.
Amazing handwashing story, by the way, Dr. K.
One of Annie’s best characteristics is her courtesy to other adults (not her parents). I have finally gotten over being startled when other kids’ parents tell me what a wonderful daughter I have. I was telling her about my meeting with her pre-calculus teacher Monday morning. He told me what would be on the final (in general) and what she should study for the rest of the semester. In the middle of this, she just walked away and went to her room. Incredibly rude, especially when the subject was how she could get a C in a course she is currently failing. I hadn’t gotten to the part where he told me he very rarely gives a senior a D in his course. I will keep that item to myself. I guess I just have to survive the teenage years.
Dr. K., that kind of story is VERY common. I have a theory about it, and I mean no disrespect. It is based on when I did obedience training with dogs (water rescue work, draft carts, etc). As a puppy, dogs are incredibly willing to please, and just sop up commands and responses like a sponge.
Then, when they hit about a year, it is like the puppy becomes deaf. It is very frustrating to dog trainers. The answer? It’s just a guess, but in the wild, canids often leave the pack at that age, or otherwise establish their independence.
I think teenagers are the same way. I’m not touting sociology in a mechanistic way, but it seems to make sense. Add to it that teenagers are WELL aware that they are not independent, yet feel as if they should be. Hence the resentment and “acting out.”
Just a thought.
Come to think of it, the juvenile and counterproductive behaviors I listed above get displayed by adults under some circumstances…and perhaps for the same reasons!
I am mulling over college at this time and she does not have the foresight to understand how this sort of stuff affects that decision. I really don’t know if she is mature enough for college. I don’t mean to be overly critical of her because I was also not mature enough. I lost my scholarship at the end of the first year because I failed to maintain a B average. I then worked for a year and went back to school at night, paying my own way. I then entered the military for a six month basic training period, returned to school and had an A+ average thereafter. Including medical school where my only B was Psychiatry.
Look at Craig Venter’s background, Dr. K.
What is the faux-deep Zen saying: “When the student is ready, the Master will appear”?
Some folks aren’t ready for college until…they are ready. It doesn’t make them bad or good people. My father didn’t get his B.A. degree until his late 50s!